


Stranger Things Have Happened

by theron09



Category: Leverage
Genre: Gen, Team Dynamics, Team as Family, lets go steal the white house
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-14
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-05-06 17:54:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5426309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theron09/pseuds/theron09
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Preparing to pull off a con in the strangest of places with his team brings an unexpected ally back into Eliot's life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stranger Things Have Happened

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alyricaldreamer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alyricaldreamer/gifts).



> I hope you enjoy this, alyricaldreamer. I tried to involve your favourite characters and aspects from your prompts. Happy Holidays!

There were masses of people in the square: Christmas shoppers bustling to and fro, occasionally elbowing others out of the way; children gazing into window displays and people who weren’t yet in the holiday spirit, scowling at anybody who was. Eliot Spencer stood absolutely still in the middle of the pulsing crowd. So much was happening around him, and he could barely hear himself think over the noise, but his instincts were telling him something wasn’t right. At his sides, his hands curled into fists.

Someone was watching.

Taking two careful steps forward, Eliot angled himself so he could surreptitiously look into the wing mirror of the nearest car. There were no obvious suspects in sight, which meant they had to be out of sight.

Moving his lips as little as possible, he murmured into the comms to get Hardison’s attention. “I’ve got company – up on top of one of the buildings, I think.”

“What do you need?” Hardison fired back.

Eliot shook his head as he started walking slowly, hands stuffed into his pockets. “Don’t worry about me; just take over tracking my mark so I can handle this end.”

“Will do. I’ve got sight of him on the cameras now.”

Content that Hardison was, despite his flaws, capable of surveillance, Eliot tuned the hacker’s commentary out and focused on the matter at hand. Someone was watching him as he tailed the security guard, and he needed to know why. Moving as casually as possible, he began to head towards the edge of the square where it would be easier to drop out of sight. He’d spied on others often enough to know which of the surrounding buildings he’d use as a base to watch from; assuming his watcher wasn’t completely stupid, that’s where they’d be.  

As soon as there was some cover –a group of carol singers stopping to set up camp – he ducked into the hotel entrance and jogged towards the stairs. There wouldn’t be long until the person who had been watching him realised he was completely out of sight, not just lost momentarily. If he wanted to take them by surprise, he’d have to be quick.

The stairwell was empty as he made his way up it – people tended to use lifts, he knew – and so he stayed alert. Anyone coming down was likely to be the person he was after. But he passed the second floor, the third, the fifth without meeting anyone. As he reached the door that led to the roof, he paused and listened. There were no unusual sounds, although that didn’t guarantee anything.

“I’m checking out a roof,” he updated Hardison. “Don’t lose our mark.” With that, he turned the door handle and exited onto the roof.

There was no-one near the edge of the roof and only a few places where someone could be hiding. Rolling his shoulders read y for a fight, Eliot took a few paces forwards and then, instinct kicking in, spun around just in time to block a punch. He was about to throw one of his own when he registered just who it was he was about to fight.

Standing smirking and unapologetic, the hitter Quinn shrugged. “Just making sure you haven’t lost it, Spencer.”

“I haven’t,” he growled, trying to ignore Hardison’s laughter in his ear. “Why are you here?”

“You’re watching Jace Wilson.”

“So?” Eliot started to walk back inside, giving Quinn no choice but to follow if they were going to continue their conversation.

“He’s a friend.”

Raising an eyebrow, Eliot grabbed hold of Quinn’s arm. “You have a friend who works at The White House?” he asked, interested despite his best efforts not to be. Quinn had helped them out on a few cons since they’d taken down Dubenich and Latimer together, but the other hitter was still largely a mystery to them; seemingly determined not to be a good guy, but desperate to be liked, Quinn had refused to tell them much about his past.

Adjusting his narrow tie, Quinn nodded. “You’re not the only one with friends in high places. What’s your interest in Jace? He’s not a bad guy.”

Eliot cleared his throat. “We know.”

“So?”

He shrugged. “Wilson’s just our way in. I’m not telling you what we need to be in for.”

“I honestly don’t care why you need access to one of the most protected buildings in the country.” Quinn moved so he was blocking Eliot’s way to the stairs. “But you need to find a different way in.”

“There isn’t another way.”

Quinn laughed. “You don’t really believe that. There’s always another way.”

“There isn’t time.”

“I’ll help you.”

“What?” asked Eliot.

“I can find you a way in, don’t need to know why or what you do when you’re there. Just leave Jace out of it. I’ll owe you one.”

Eliot opened his mouth to reply – a job connected to the White House was too high profile to involve a hitter he still didn’t completely trust - but Hardison spoke over the comms before he could. “Message from Parker – she wants to hear what Quinn has to say.”

Sighing, Eliot gestured at Quinn to start walking.  The decision was out of his hands.

***

“So we have a plan,” said Parker, walking out from behind the bar of the gastropub. She was carrying the suits they had ordered specially from a friend of Sophie’s; only the best quality would get them into their target location.

“Are we sure about this?” asked Eliot, directing his question at Parker. “This isn’t a con we can afford to make mistakes on.”

Parker nodded. “We won’t. We have Quinn’s insider information, your friend from the army, Hardison’s ability to hack into anything… why are you worried?”

“I’m cautious. It’s smart to be cautious.”

“But no fun,” laughed Quinn. “I mean, come on, we’re conning our way into the White House. If we pull this off, we’ll be epic.”

Eliot tilted his head in acknowledgement. It would be another achievement to add to their list – but he didn’t value achievements over their survival. When it came down to it, keeping Parker and Hardison – his family – safe would always be more important than their clients.

“It _is_ kind of cool,” said Hardison, glee in his voice. “It’s very National Treasure. I’m surprised Nate hasn’t insisted on joining in.”

“He nearly did,” admitted Parker, looking sheepish for a moment before shoving one of the suits at Eliot. “This is yours. Can you try to look less scary? You’re supposed to be a charity worker – that means you need to look charitable.”

“Yeah, Eliot,” said Quinn in a singsong voice. The smirk fell off his face as Parker turned to face him.

“You, Quinn, are supposed to be silent. Just pretend you’re Eliot. Hardison is on point going in, I’ll be arriving via our other entry point.  Everyone clear?”

Eliot nodded, standing up. It was time to get this over with, break into the White House at Christmas and protect the President at all costs, apart from the cost of Eliot’s team.

“Right,” Parker smiled. “Let’s go steal the White House.”

Sometimes, Eliot wondered whether his life could get any stranger – and then it always did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
